Harry Wormwood
Mr. Harold "Harry" Wormwood, also known as Mr. Wormwood, is the secondary antagonist in Roald Dahl's book Matilda and its popular 1996 film adaptation. He is the owner of Wormwood Motors, the husband of Zinnia Wormwood and the father of Matilda and Michael Wormwood. Despite posing as an honest businessman, however, Harry is actually a con artist who sells damaged cars to people at high prices, as he believes that no one makes money being honest. He was portrayed by , who also directed the film and narrated it. Biography Harry Wormwood is a rich man and a crook who makes dirty dealings like buying stolen car parts. Harry often abuses Matilda by sending her to her room as a false punishment for being a "smart aleck", calling her names, destroying Matilda's library book, and rants and raves at her. Later, at the end of the film, due to his illegal dealings which attracted the attention of the FBI, Harry and his wife, Mrs. Zinnia Wormwood, and his son, Michael, are forced to go on a permanent vacation to Guam. After they agree to let Matilda be adopted by Miss Honey, the three drive away, never to be seen again. In the stage musical, he is shown to ultimately care about Matilda a bit in that he acknowledges her as his daughter and wants her to come away with the family; this does not occur in the film. Gallery Harry and Zinnia.jpg|Harry Wormwood and his wife Zinnia. Mr. Harry Wormwood.jpg The Wormwood Family.jpg 100 0571 edited 12946.jpg|Harry in the book Harry Wormwood yelling comically.png Michael Wormwood with Harry & Zinnia Wormwood.png Wormwood Family.jpg The Wormwood Family.jpg Zinnia & Harry Wormwood.jpg Trivia *A popular theory in recent years is that Harry Wormwood and the Narrator of the film are actually one and the same (given the fact that they were both played by Danny DeVito, who also directed the film), implying that Harry eventually pulled a Heel-Face Turn and became a better person, which leads him to narrate Matilda's story in a way to atone the fact that he was not the decent father he should have been. *It is possible that Mr. Wormwood got his comeuppance offscreen in the end at least in the film canon, as while he and his family go to Guam so the FBI would not capture him, Guam is part of the United States of America and therefore the FBI still has jurisdiction there. In the book, the Wormwoods went to Spain, which is in Europe and therefore the FBI has no jurisdiction there. **Given this, it is unknown why Spain was changed to Guam in the film adaptation as it does not affect the story in any way. However, it is possible that it was changed, if anyone believes that Harry was arrested in the end, to reflect Harry's lack of knowledge and intelligence in contrast to that of his daughter. *Rhea Perlman, the actress who played Harry's wife Zinnia Wormwood in the film, was Danny DeVitto's wife in real life by the time the film was made. *In the original book, Mr. Wormwood is taller and thinner, but in the film adaptation, Mr. Wormwood is short and overweight. *The late Bob Hoskins, Tim Allen, Joe Pesci, John Goodman, Robert De Niro, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Richard Dreyfuss, Steve Martin, George Wendt, and the late Tony Haygarth were considered for the role of Harry Wormwood before Danny DeVito was cast. *Harry Wormwood's character was, to some extent, the inspiration for Vernon Dursley, the uncle of Harry Potter from the Harry Potter franchise. Navigation Category:Con Artists Category:Book Villains Category:Movie Villains Category:Live Action Villains Category:Criminals Category:Abusers Category:Related to Hero Category:Liars Category:Karma Houdini Category:Male Category:Parents Category:Businessmen Category:Wealthy Category:Spouses Category:Thief Category:Destroyer of Innocence Category:Theatrical Villains Category:Provoker Category:Faux Affably Evil Category:On & Off Category:Cowards Category:Necessary Evil Category:Wrathful Category:Incompetent Category:Greedy Category:Arrogant Category:Dimwits Category:Egotist Category:Cheater Category:Failure-Intolerant Category:Fantasy Villains Category:Comedy Villains Category:Status Dependent on Version Category:Type Dependent on Version